The Critics and the Prioress

Of all the Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucers Prioresss Tale, in which a young schoolboy is murdered by Jews for singing a song in praise of the Virgin Mary, poses a problem to contemporary readers because of the anti-semitism of the story it tells. Both the Tales anti-semitism and its Chaucerianism its fitness or aptness as part of the Chaucerian canonare significant topics of reflection for modern readers, who worry about the Tales ethical implications as well as Chaucers own implications. Over the past fifty years, scholars have asked whether the anti-semitism in the tale is that of the Prioress? Or of Chaucer the pilgrim? Or of Chaucer the author? Or, indeed, whether one ought to discuss anti-semitism in the Prioresss Tale at all, considering the potential anachronism of expecting medieval texts to conform to contemporary ideologies. The Critics and the Prioress responds to a critical stalemate between the demands of ethics and the entailments of methodology. The book addresses key moments in criticism of the Prioresss Taleparticularly those which stage an encounter between historicism and ethicsin order to interrogate these critical impasses while suggesting new modes for future encounters. It is an effort to identify, engage, and reframe some significantand perennially repeatedarguments staked out in this criticism, such as the roles of gender, aesthetics, source studies, and the appropriate relationship between ethics and historicism. The Critics and the Prioress will be an essential resource for Chaucer scholars researching as well as teaching the Prioresss Tale. Scholars and students of Middle English literature and medieval culture more generally will also be interested in this books rigorous analysis of contemporary scholarly approaches to expressions of anti-semitism in Chaucers England.